Mayweather remains unbeaten

LAS VEGAS – Floyd Mayweather remained undefeated by winning a 12-round split decision over Oscar de la Hoya Saturday to take the World Boxing Council super-welterweight title in an epic slugfest of US rivals.

Two judges scored the fight for Mayweather by 116-112 and 115-113, each giving Mayweather four of the final five rounds, while the third saw de la Hoya winning 115-113 by taking three of the final five rounds. Mayweather, who became a world champion in his fifth different weight class, improved to 38-0 while de la Hoya, a champion in six divisions, fell to 38-5.”It was easy work for me.He was rough and tough.But he couldn’t beat the best,” Mayweather said.”I could see the shots coming.I stayed on the outside all night, boxed and made him miss.”That’s what you call a masterpiece of boxing.He’s one of the best fighters of our era and I showed what I can do to one of the best fighters of our era.”De la Hoya, who pressed the attack early but tired at the finish, said he thought he had taken the decision.”I felt I won.I felt I landed the hard punches, the crisper punches,” de la Hoya said.”Every time I hit him I hurt him.I was pressing the fight.If I didn’t press the fight there would be no fight.”It was the narrowest triumph of Mayweather’s career, his first decision that was less than unanimous.”I’m not Superman,” he said.”I can’t win every fight unanimously.”Mayweather also called it the greatest triumph of his career and declared it would be his farewell bout.”As of right now, Floyd Mayweather is officially retired from the sport of boxing,” Mayweather said.”I’ve done everything I wanted to do in the sport.I beat the best.I made a ton of money.I’ve got nothing else to prove.”De la Hoya, who had only one fight in the prior 2 1/2 years, said he would analyze the fight before deciding whether or not to retire.”We’ll have to wait and see,” de la Hoya said.”I’ve got to go back to the drawing board and watch the fight, see how my movements were see how my timing was, just see how my body feels.”De la Hoya, 34, made 25 million dollars, while Mayweather, 30, took home 10 million dollars and another hefty payday might entice a rematch.The much-anticipated showdown between Mayweather, considered the supreme pound-for-pound fighter, and de la Hoya, boxing’s most popular pay-per-view attraction, was expected to rank among the top moneymaking fights in history.From the start, the fight matched its action-packed build-up as de la Hoya displayed tenacity and unexpected speed to set the tempo.De la Hoya pounded at Mayweather with left hooks to the body in the early rounds but did little damage, while Mayweather proved evasive and picked his moments to counter with single punches.”Everybody counted me out,” de la Hoya said.”He’s younger than me.He’s fast.But I hurt him with a few punches that I know he felt.”De la Hoya landed nine lefts to the body in a row at one stage of round four while Mayweather was against the ropes, but the challenger began to find his form, taking de la Hoya’s best and answering in kind.”For some reason it wasn’t the night of the jab.Every time I would throw it, it would snap his head back and I would hurt him,” de la Hoya said.”But for some reason it just wasn’t one of those nights.”Mayweather began setting the rhythm in the sixth round, de la Hoya evading and countering.In the seventh Mayweather began landing combinations and smiling, seeing de la Hoya was tiring and far less aggressive than his flashy early fury.”He threw a lot of punches that weren’t landing.I out-punched him.I out-boxed him,” Mayweather said.”I was having fun in there.It was a hell of a fight.I told the fans I would give them a good fight and that’s what I did.”Mayweather began landing harder punches in the eighth round and kept the pace to the end.The final round was a series of clinches and misses until de la Hoya landed a flurry only to be smashed by Mayweather in response.The bell rang ending the fight with the fighters trading a furious exchange, then embracing each other.”As a champion I wanted to stop him,” de la Hoya said.”You owe it to the fans.You owe it to yourself to push yourself more.That’s why I just tried to close the show.”Nampa-AFPMayweather, who became a world champion in his fifth different weight class, improved to 38-0 while de la Hoya, a champion in six divisions, fell to 38-5.”It was easy work for me.He was rough and tough.But he couldn’t beat the best,” Mayweather said.”I could see the shots coming.I stayed on the outside all night, boxed and made him miss.”That’s what you call a masterpiece of boxing.He’s one of the best fighters of our era and I showed what I can do to one of the best fighters of our era.”De la Hoya, who pressed the attack early but tired at the finish, said he thought he had taken the decision.”I felt I won.I felt I landed the hard punches, the crisper punches,” de la Hoya said.”Every time I hit him I hurt him.I was pressing the fight.If I didn’t press the fight there would be no fight.”It was the narrowest triumph of Mayweather’s career, his first decision that was less than unanimous.”I’m not Superman,” he said.”I can’t win every fight unanimously.”Mayweather also called it the greatest triumph of his career and declared it would be his farewell bout.”As of right now, Floyd Mayweather is officially retired from the sport of boxing,” Mayweather said.”I’ve done everything I wanted to do in the sport.I beat the best.I made a ton of money.I’ve got nothing else to prove.”De la Hoya, who had only one fight in the prior 2 1/2 years, said he would analyze the fight before deciding whether or not to retire.”We’ll have to wait and see,” de la Hoya said.”I’ve got to go back to the drawing board and watch the fight, see how my movements were see how my timing was, just see how my body feels.”De la Hoya, 34, made 25 million dollars, while Mayweather, 30, took home 10 million dollars and another hefty payday might entice a rematch.The much-anticipated showdown between Mayweather, considered the supreme pound-for-pound fighter, and de la Hoya, boxing’s most popular pay-per-view attraction, was expected to rank among the top moneymaking fights in history.From the start, the fight matched its action-packed build-up as de la Hoya displayed tenacity and unexpected speed to set the tempo.De la Hoya pounded at Mayweather with left hooks to the body in the early rounds but did little damage, while Mayweather proved evasive and picked his moments to counter with single punches.”Everybody counted me out,” de la Hoya said.”He’s younger than me.He’s fast.But I hurt him with a few punches that I know he felt.”De la Hoya landed nine lefts to the body in a row at one stage of round four while Mayweather was against the ropes, but the challenger began to find his form, taking de la Hoya’s best and answering in kind.”For some reason it wasn’t the night of the jab.Every time I would throw it, it would snap his head back and I would hurt him,” de la Hoya said.”But for some reason it just wasn’t one of those nights.”Mayweather began setting the rhythm in the sixth round, de la Hoya evading and countering.In the seventh Mayweather began landing combinations and smiling, seeing de la Hoya was tiring and far less aggressive than his flashy early fury.”He threw a lot of punches that weren’t landing.I out-punched him.I out-boxed him,” Mayweather said.”I was having fun in there.It was a hell of a fight.I told the fans I would give them a good fight and that’s what I did.”Mayweather began landing harder punches in the eighth round and kept the pace to the end.The final round was a series of clinches and misses until de la Hoya landed a flurry only to be smashed by Mayweather in response.The bell rang ending the fight with the fighters trading a furious exchange, then embracing each other.”As a champion I wanted to stop him,” de la Hoya said.”You owe it to the fans.You owe it to yourself to push yourself more.That’s why I just tried to close the show.”Nampa-AFP